What if?
by Elvis2392
Summary: What would happen if Christine didn't choose Raoul? What if she stayed with the one person who inspired her to go beyond her musical abilities?


_**Author's note:**_

_**Hey guys! Here is my second POTO story. I've been pretty swamped with midterms and I haven't been able to write as many stories as I would like. This is one of the reasons why this one took so long to complete. Nevertheless, I do have some ideas in mind for my next story that I'm currently working on. Anyhoo, I hope you music lovers enjoy this! I had a lot of fun writing this one. **___

What If? (POTO)

As Christine sat on the ground looking back at the hideous man who taught her so much about music and back at Raoul still bound at the gate with the noose still around his neck, she finally had the courage to speak to Erik.

"Oh Erik, you need to experience this now before it is too late."

She slowly stood up on her feet and came over to his side. "Christine wha-" Erik began but was instantly silenced with Christine taking his face into her hands giving him the deepest and passionate of kisses any man could ever experience. It felt as though as if his whole body was electrified by the kiss, he had never had this kind of thing happen to him before. No one had shown him the importance of loving others or to be loved. Then for a moment, they broke free and she pulled him into a tight embrace. This man knew no love in his life, he didn't quite know how to hold her. They unlocked arms and she kissed him again, this time it was deeper than the first one.

As they slowly parted Christine saw tears flowing down his face and saw his whole body shaking. Erik turned away from her and walked past her in a weakened pace. He looked at Raoul then back at Christine with a pained look that seemed to say "This is going to kill me," and went over to the steel gates to untie Raoul from his bonds. Once he was free, Christine ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck.

"Get out of here, forget this place," said Erik in a stern voice.

Christine took Raoul's face in her hands and whispered "Are you okay?"

Raoul croaked out "Yes,"

Erik was losing control of his emotions "Are you deaf?! Get out of here!" he shouted.

They both turned around just in time to see him walk through the water and Raoul quickly jumped out in front of Christine with his arms spread out to defend her.

"Boy swear to me never to tell anyone else of my existence." Erik growled.

Raoul nodded then grabbed Christine by the wrist and ran with her through the entrance of his lair to find the boat at the edge of the river. As they made their way through the tunnel, Raoul stopped abruptly. "Christine I know he's had one hell of a miserable life and I know he put you through hell but I need to ask you something."

Christine felt a twinge of pain in her gut, she knew what the question was going to be. But it was tearing her apart to give him the answer.

"Do you love him?" asked Raoul.

Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she swallowed hard "A part of me has never stopped loving him Raoul." she sobbed.

Raoul felt as though as if someone cut his heart straight down to the core. He had a feeling that her heart wasn't with him but he didn't want to admit it. "I'm sorry that I put you on the spot tonight Christine, but please tell me what it is that I'm not doing for you?" he asked in a pained voice.

"Do I not respect you for who you are? What you do? Am I not showing enough love towards you? I love you Christine Daae, what more can I prove it to you?"

Christine sobbed harder "Raoul you are perfect. You are the ideal man that every woman should have. I have always cherished the relationship that we have had through the years. But lately I realized my feelings for Erik are more real than I imagined."

Raoul kept looking at her sadly as she continued "But he needs me Raoul. Believe me when I say that I never meant to hurt you."

"Are you willing to forgive him of the crimes that he has made?" asked Raoul.

"Yes," Christine replied softly.

Raoul tenderly embraced her and whispered in her ear "I will always love you my little lotte. May God be with you."

He gently wiped away her tears and continued to make his way to the boat. Christine took a glance back through the dark tunnel and started running in a frantic pace. As she came back to his domain, she found Erik in the bedroom singing softly to the music box "Masquerade, paper faces on parade. Masquerade, hide your face so the world will never find you."

Erik stopped and looked up at her with eyes full of longing and sadness "Why are you still here Christine?"

Christine approached him and gently took his hands in hers. "Listen to me very carefully Erik. I choose not to go back with Raoul. I'm staying here with you not because I feel like I have to, I'm staying with you because I want to. Something inside me has never stopped loving you. I cherish my relationship with Raoul but I don't feel like my life was meant to be with him."

Erik thought his heart skipped a beat when she said those words. "Christine are you saying-?" he started to ask.

"I love you Erik. I know you have not known any sort of love in your life but I'm willing to give you all the love and everything else that I have in me to you. But the bigger question I have is will you let me in? Give me a chance to prove to you that your deformity does not bother me. I can see that there is someone who wants to give so much to this world. I want to be at your side when that happens. I'll do whatever I can to help you through the hard times and to show you the good things of this fascinating world that we live in." Christine said in a shaky voice not because she was afraid, but what came out of her was the strongest declaration of love and commitment that any woman could ever make.

In all his years in Pairs, Erik could've died the happiest man on the planet right then and there. Tears came in rivers down his face and he knelt before Christine still hanging on to her hands. "Do you really mean what you say?" he asked in a fearful voice.

"You know I do,"

Erik began to sob but for the first time it was not out of pain or sadness, it was out of pure joy and happiness. He pressed his lips to her hands whispering "Thank you God," about a dozen times. Then he felt something dripping on his head. Erik looked up to see Christine crying as well, she was crying out of love and happiness for him.

Erik stood up and said "Christine Daae I don't deserve an angel like you. But there are no excuses for the mistakes that I've made. Buqet and Piangi were needless men that did not deserve to die. I was blinded by my arrogance and hatred. I wanted to show the world the greatness in my beautiful prodigy. You are my greatest student Christine but I must ask you this now before we leave? Will you forgive me for all the pain I caused you?"

"I do forgive you Erik," Christine replied confidently.

Erik placed both of his hands on her shoulders and said "I swear to you Christine I will be there for you every day when you wake up. I will change my ways for you, and if I make any more mistakes on this journey I hope you can help me recover from them. I love you with all my heart and soul. And I swear on my life I will give you all that I have in me, even though I don't have a lot to give to you."

"Erik all I want from you is your love and honesty, nothing else," Christine said passionately.

Then Erik pulled her into his arms and kissed the only angel in his life with the greatest amount of passion he could ever give. Christine wrapped her arms around his neck and gently ran her fingers through his coarse hair. Chills went down Erik's spine at the feel of Christine's touch. Their lips parted as the lovers panted excitedly at their newly declared love for each other. All of the horrors of Erik's past seemed like they were long gone.

Suddenly their thoughts were interrupted by the commotion of the mob coming through the domain.

Erik thought fast and said "Follow me,"

He quickly led her into his bedroom and pulled back a curtain revealing a very large mirror. "Erik what are you doing? They'll be upon us in minutes!" Christine said in a panicked voice.

Erik took a stone from the ground and said "Trust me."

He drew his arm back and hurled the stone at the mirror with all of his might. Shards of glass went everywhere and what use to be the mirror now revealed a dark passageway leading to god knows where. Erik then went over to the shelf, grabbed his mask and took Christine's hand.

"Stay close," he instructed.

As they both ran inside, Christine quickly turned around and pulled the curtain over the entryway to make sure this passageway would be completely concealed from the authorities.

As they ran through the tunnel Erik said "This tunnel leads to the opposite end of the opera house, Madame Giry and Meg will be waiting for us."

"Why?" asked Christine.

"They're working on a way to smuggle me out of the country,"

Christine's eyes widened "Where exactly do you plan on going Erik?"

"America, I hear New York has a lot of opportunity for musicians. Particularly Coney Island."

They were just a few feet from the gateway leading to the outside of the opera house when Meg's face appeared through the bars. "Hurry! We don't have all night." she said in a hurried voice.

Meg grabbed the bars of the gate and pulled them open as hard as she could. As Erik and Christine ran past her, they found Madame Giry waiting next to a carriage. When she saw all three of them running towards her she said "Meg take us home, the rest of you get in."

Erik and Christine climbed inside the carriage as Meg and her mother climbed into the front. Once the carriage lurched forward into motion, Christine breathed out a sigh of relief and rested her head on Erik's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" asked Erik.

"I am now." Christine said sleepily.

Erik reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his mask grateful that he still had it. Right as he began to put it on, Christine took his hand and asked "Do you really need it right now Erik?"

Erik looked at her with a perplexed look "I think I do," he said in a shaky voice.

Christine sat up and looked at him with curiosity and wonder. "Are you still afraid that you might scare me because of how you look?" she asked.

Erik bit his lower lip and said "Yes Christine."

Tenderness swelled in her heart as she reached for his hands and gently took them into hers. "You don't scare me. Only when you lose control of your temper is when I'm the least bit scared. But Erik you must trust me, I love you. Not your face, I love you for who you are." Christine replied strongly.

Erik's hands began to shake as he still clung to his mask. He gently set it aside and the next thing he knew, Christine's hand gently cupped his deformed face. It felt like his whole body was jolted by her touch, "Christine tell me what do you see?" Erik asked in a fearful voice.

As her thumb gently massaged his cheek Christine said "A beautiful man who has a lot of passion to give to this world."

Tears fell out of Erik's eyes and across Christine's thumb. She gently wiped them away as Erik closed his eyes to savor the moment.

"I love you Erik," Christine said softly.

Erik opened his hazel eyes and smiled at her "I love you Christine," he said with every ounce of emotion going through his body.

Then to his surprise, Christine stretched out her legs and rested her head in Erik's lap. _Truly this is all a dream_ he thought. The aching void that was in his heart felt like it was gone for good, but he still carried the scars from his past. Erik looked down at the woman he adored and loved all of his life as she slept peacefully in his lap. As he ran his fingers through her hair, Erik wondered how many men on this planet had a woman like Christine in their lives. He was truly unworthy of Christine's love. No matter how much life would throw at them, they would find a way to live in this world together. Nothing was going to keep them apart. As the ride continued to drag on, Erik took one final look at Christine and tenderly kissed her on the cheek. He took one last look out the window watching the moonlit sky then he leaned his head back and fell asleep. Erik knew things were not going to be easy for him, but he was able to sleep soundly knowing that his life of nightmares, pain, torture and misery was finally over at last.

The End.

_**Author's note**_

_**Yay! My second POTO story! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please write and tell me what you guys think! I do plan on writing some more. **_


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